Gillian Cross is the renowned author of over 40 books and is perhaps known most commonly for her children's book 'The Demon Headmaster'.  This impressive bibliography has not been without its rewards, Gillian has won the Carnegie Medal, the Whitbread Children's Novel Award and the 1992 Smarties Prize (the award that shot J.K. Rowling to fame).

There was a certain amount of excitement when I received the confirmation off Gillian that she would agree to do the interview, 'The Demon Headmaster' was firmly rooted in my childhood reading list as well as the BBC children's program based on the same book (is it me or were children's programs so much better then?).

Here is what Gillian Cross has to say about her career as a writer:

When did you start writing and how long was it before you had commercial
success?

I began writing the beginnings of books when I was about seven, but I didn't
finish one until 1974 or so. It took me another five years to get any
published, by which time I'd written five books.

Did you start by writing short stories or did you delve straight into
writing a book?

I've never really written short stories much. I think they're really
difficult, and quite different from novels.

Do you find writing books gets easier the more you write?

No. It gets harder.

How long does it usually take you to write a book?

Between three and nine months, depending on the kind of book. The longest
it's ever taken me - from when I actually began to write is about a year
and a half.

Do you do a lot of research for your books, if so how do you go about
doing this?

I do research if I need to know things. This varies hugely from book to
book. If I do need to find out things, I do whatever is necessary. That
always involves reading a lot, and sometimes more unexpected things, like
visiting the zoo or interviewing people. And the internet can be
tremendously helpful for some things.

What is your favourite book?

I haven't got an absolute favourite, but The Secret Garden is one of my
favourites.

What, in your opinion, is the best thing about being a writer?

It's hard to choose from so many good things, but I think the best is that
magical moment, after a lot of bumbling about, when I finally see how a book
OUGHT to go.

How do you think the internet has affected the world of writing and
publishing?

It's affected bookselling, publicity and non-fiction a lot, and made
research much easier.

Can you give your top three tips to becoming a successful author.

To me, 'being a successful author' isn't just about publication. More
importantly, it's about writing the best books you can, in the way you want
to write them. So my top tips are:

Enjoy what you write.

Go on rewriting until you know you can't make it any better.

Don't wait to have a book accepted before you write another one.

What are you working on now?

The third book of my Dark Ground trilogy.

Gillian Cross - http://www.gillian-cross.co.uk/

(c) 2005